Link: U.S. Leads In Mental Illness, Lags in Treatment

"One-quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully a quarter of those had a 'serious' disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function day to day, according to the largest and most detailed survey of the nation's mental health, published yesterday.

Although parallel studies in 27 other countries are not yet complete, the new numbers suggest that the United States is poised to rank No. 1 globally for mental illness, researchers said."

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Less than half of those in need get treated. Those who seek treatment typically do so after a decade or more of delays, during which time they are likely to develop additional problems. And the treatment they receive is usually inadequate.

Younger sufferers are especially overlooked, the survey found, even though mental illness is very much a disease of youth. Half of those who will ever be diagnosed with a mental disorder show signs of the disease by age 14, and three-quarters by age 24. But few get help.

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2 Comments

what do you think that says about us as a culture? we almost always seem to have our lenses pointed away from us and do not seem to see or hear the others criticism of our maladies. As an example, I can think that the Beltway was all over Newsweek Mag about the desecration of the Quran, yet the Pentagon now admits that this all really occurred. How myopic can we be?